


What Would I Give (Mysterious Fathoms Indeed)

by SilverRose42



Series: All Our Wishes... [4]
Category: Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen, Disney - All Media Types, Disney Princesses, The Little Mermaid (1989), The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: Ariel has issues, Dancing and Singing, F/M, Freedom, Human Ariel (Disney), Music, Musicians, and maybe some PTSD, but it's not explicate, but she hates singing, getting her voice back, she makes music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 02:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10675605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverRose42/pseuds/SilverRose42
Summary: Let’s talk about Ariel. Ariel, the little mermaid, with hair the color of fire, down in the deeps of the ocean. Ariel, who wanted nothing more than to be human. Ariel, who’s father loved her voice above all else, who forced her to sing. Ariel, who traded her voice for legs, who had a part of her taken away like it was nothing, who got it back, who made mistakes, who got her happily ever after.Let’s talk about an Ariel, who doesn’t sing. Not anymore.





	What Would I Give (Mysterious Fathoms Indeed)

Let’s talk about Ariel. Ariel, the little mermaid, with hair the color of fire, down in the deeps of the ocean. Ariel, who wanted nothing more than to be human. Ariel, who’s father loved her voice above all else, who forced her to sing. Ariel, who traded her voice for legs, who had a part of her taken away like it was nothing, who got it back, who made mistakes, who got her happily ever after.

Let’s talk about an Ariel, who doesn’t sing. Not anymore.

She enjoys music, of course, she always has. She loves the way noise can come together to form something beautiful, loves the rise and fall of voices into a wonderful melody, loves the instruments that back them. She loves dancing to that music as well, loves the elegant footwork, loves being held close, and being whirled around the floor, loves Eric, who whirls her around whenever she wants, because he’s the Prince, sure, but he’s not the Crown Prince, and thus, has much less responsibility than his older brother.

She even loves making music; she convinced the court musicians to teach her, and so now her fingers awkwardly walk up and down the keys of the piano – awkward, yes, but she’s getting better. She hums to herself as she works – she’s determined to learn everything she can, so she gets the maids to teach her sewing, the cook to teach her his best non-seafood recipes. Eric to teach her how to run a kingdom.

She hums while she does the finances – she excellent at math, as it turns out, better than Eric, who was more than happy to let her help. She hums when she goes to market, to talk to her citizens, young and old. She makes odd little noises with her mouth, and whistles occasionally, but she does not sing. Too many people have seen more value in her voice than in her (and yes, she knows her father loved her, really, but she’s fairly confident that Sebastian wasn’t there for sixteen years of his own free will), and she won’t let it happen again.

Eric doesn’t question her on the lack of singing. He just smiles, and says things like “when you’re ready,” and “never have to be ready.” She loves him, she really does.

But he told stories of her beautiful voice, and everyone is curious. They don’t bother her, of course, but she can see it in their eyes. But she won’t sing for them. She won’t sing until she’s confident she’s not singing for anyone but herself.

Her daughter, her beautiful daughter, spends her first few years with her mother humming her to sleep, being rocked in warm arms that used to be covered in the cold water of the sea. Ariel still doesn’t sing. Not until the storm hits.

It’s a thunderstorm – the lighting flashes, and the waves roll and crash violently. Her baby girl is asleep; she never had any trouble sleeping through the storms of the coast. Eric is in his study, penning a letter to a queen several kingdoms over, offering his condolences for the loss of her husband. And Ariel, well.

Ariel is climbing the steps of one of the towers to overlook her former home. And as the storm rages, as the wind howls on and on, Ariel steps out into the rain, opens her mouth, and lets her song come pouring out.

Her voice is not as high or shrill as it was at sixteen, but it is still beautiful. She sings about sailors, and about the depths of the ocean. She sings Atlantean folk songs, the rhythm matching the steady sound of the beating rain. She stands outside, all evening, until the storm ends, and dawn breaks, when the final note ends, and she turns to seen Eric, their daughter on his lap, smiling at her from his seat on the staircase. She smiles back, and hugs them both, content in the knowledge that, for the first time, she is free.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, wow, Ariel. I had to work to get Ariel done. Like, I don't like Ariel, and it took me ages to figure out what her issue would really be, before it hit me. Her voice. Her voice would be such a touchy subject, what do you wanna bet she'd have problems.
> 
> Alright, well. Next is Belle, which should be fun. She's pretty well adjusted, so, we'll see.


End file.
